When I retired as a manufacturer's representative, the owner and staff of one of my best and favorite customers gave me a retirement gift. The store is one of the top retailers in Houston for new, used, and vintage guitars. They are also one of the nation's top vintage drum shops. I have done a lot of buying, selling, and mostly trading of vintage drums with this shop for more than 25 years. The owner knows my preferences for drums. He knows that I love Slingerland drums and smaller snare drums. I was blown away when he presented me with this vintage 1950s Slingy Piccolo 4 x 13 s Radio King. I know that it has been re-wrapped and is probably made up of salvaged parts. But, it a treasure that plays and sounds like a million bucks.
I was perusing eBay yesterday to see what kinds of vintage Slingerland stull was available. I stopped short when I saw this listing for the twin of my perfect little snare drum. Te seller claims that is is a catalog model from the 1951 Catalog listing of a bebop set. The WMP is nicely aged and all of the specs he lists coincide with my snare drum. He thinks that his drum is worth $2,500.